HSS member, Innes McOwan follows up on Margo MacDonald’s talk at Conference and finds out how we can help.

Following her speech at our conference on 7th November, I met with Margo and her team at the Scottish Parliament. The objective was to establish how the HSS could help Margo to progress this Bill through Parliament.

There are three essential principals underpinning the Bill.

1. The Bill is based on total respect for the dignity and autonomy of the individual. The ultimate decision will remain with the individual, and the individual alone.
2. The right to exercise the choice will be strictly limited to specific categories of debility.
3. The final act would be carried out by a trained Doctor and only then under strictly controlled conditions.

Be aware that the opponents of the Bill will be well organised to exercise maximum pressure to have the Bill defeated.

So, what can we do as individual members of the Society?

1. Write or e-mail to the leaders of the Labour Party (Ian Gray) and the SNP (Alex Salmond) urging them to allow a free vote. (The others have already affirmed to this).
2. Write or e-mail to your MSPs pressing them to support the Bill. You will have a Constituency Member and several ‘List’ Members. You can check out who they are on the Scottish Parliament web site.
3. Talk to friends and colleagues, and encourage them to do likewise.
4. Engage with opponents and assuage their fears. This is not euthanasia – it is not about disposing of the infirm or the disabled. It is about people in quite specific circumstances being allowed to die with dignity at a time of their own choosing.
5.  Sign the online petition in support of the bill: please click here to register your support! 

Time Scale

The Bill has passed through the Consultation stage and is now in the hands of the Parliamentary Draftsmen. The committee met on March 2nd, 2010. Ross Finnie was elected convener and it quickly went into closed session. The Stage 1 debate, in the Parliament, will probably take place in August/September.

“Time is of the essence – we need to act now!”